June 30, 2007
· Filed under Life in Peekskill, gardening, politics
We planted these last weekend, but I’m just getting around to posting. The “Endless Summer” hydrangea will be going to the left of the front steps as you look at the house. There’s a honeysuckle, three astilbes, two lilyturfs, snapdragons, a Japanese sedge, and a delphinium. I bought two gorgeous, full fuchsias to hang on the porch. We were watering every day, and the fuchsias started to wilt. I read, albeit too late, that I had probably killed them by overwatering. Shit. The Black Thumb strikes again.
I find myself in the tenuous situation of actually wanting to vote for a Republican on the city’s mayoral race. Councilman Bill Schmidt is a good all-around guy who is listening to our concerns as citizens on the code violations, the illegal immigrant situation (another pig was slaughtered last Saturday, I didn’t mention the first one because the story is too horrifying), the necessity of canceling any plans for more Section 8 housing (Peekskill is one of only six Westchester towns that has any Section 8 housing. One. Of. Six.), to broaden the tax base by attracting more middle-class citizens to the city. The city is filled to the brim with Section 8 and low-income housing already, these people are sucking on the teat of the middle class and not giving anything back. There are people who have lived in Bohlman Towers for forty years. And are proud of it. Like that’s something to aspire to. Pretty soon, if they keep erecting low-income housing, all of us who make more than they do are going to move away and then where is the city’s tax base? It’s a catch-22, are there more poor people in Peekskill because there is so much low-income housing? Or is there so much low-income housing because of the poor people? The “Old Peekskillians” who want nothing to change are going to be the downfall of this city if we’re not careful.
June 19, 2007
· Filed under Life in Peekskill, gardening, yarn
I got the first of two swaps from my No Sheep For You Swap partner, Mary Anne. It is two balls of pink-and-orange (05 oranges/salmon on the ball band) “Flotsam” cotton/polyamide/acrylic/viscose/acetate by Louisa Harding, plus a pink aluminum stitch holder and three glass bead stitch makers. Thank you, Mary Anne! I have my “downstream” pal’s yarn bought but not ready to send out. 
It’s Ellyn Cooper’s Yarn Sonnets Handdyed Cotton in Canasta that I bought at Seaport Yarn. My pal lives on Kodiak Island in Alaska! I’d send her a Georged dollar to spend there but it’s against the rules.
We went hiking in Fort Hill Park looking for evidence of campesinos (is that the right word? I mean illegal aliens living in the woods. I don’t think that’s the right word) to bring to the police. And we found it. Clothes laid out (to dry?) 
, a week-old print copy of el Diario, two firepits 
(In the woods. With bone-dry leaves all around. Brilliant.), tons of empty beer cans and bottles, liquor bottles (what kind of brand is “Kobra?”), matches, cigarette packs, and a pile of feces. On the trail. No deer left this lying there. I’m not including the picture I took (for documentation’s sake). All in all it was an interesting excursion with lots of fun had by all. We checked for ticks afterward, none anywhere. Totally forgot the four cans of Deep Woods OFF! we have purchased for such trips.
We finally planted the Kwanzan Sakura my sister bought for us. It’s the same species of flowering cherry tree that my father planted outside my bedroom window when I was small. We placed it where, when it grows tall, I’ll be able to see it from my office window. And now it’s raining! Please don’t drown our poor little tree!
Check out this awesome blogpost. I’m hungry/amazed just looking at it. Talk about talent, I wonder what her knitting looks like! I’ll have to check the archives…
June 17, 2007
· Filed under family, knitting, pampering
…took a ride to Lawn Guyland today, the home of the famous Where’s George billtrap (Bills that go to Long Island never ever leave. Much like some people). We got there hours after everyone else, but still had time to visit and have some potato salad and to cement the notion that Brett is an ass. He said something about Barack Obama being from another planet. Craig asked if I still had that Obama bumper sticker on my car, I said yes, it’s been there for four years. Brett said something rude about Obama and his sister and how it was going to keep him from being President (I didn’t quite get the words but his tone was implicit), Craig put his hand down between us and said “Okay you two, that’s enough!” WTF? Brett then couldn’t keep his mouth shut, but I, being the only sober one there, kept my wits about me and put it down to him having no home training. He was obviously trying to goad me; I’m glad that I didn’t rise to the bait.
Went to Beach Nail Salon first thing this morning (so I’m a little out of order) and got fills done and a French manicure, then MAC’s Sailor Boy on my toenails. I *like* the bright blue, but Karen and Carol made fun of it. What the hell do they know? I really need to keep using Dr. N.V. Perricone’s Hand & Body Lipid Replenishment (Phosphatidyl-E) cream. It is the absolute best moisturizer I have ever used, and it better be, for the price. It simply transforms my skin from dry and rough to smooth and supple. My dad gave me a nice fat gift certificate to Sephora for Chanukah again this year so I spent some of it on a tube of this stuff. It’s addictive. Doesn’t smell great, but better than I remember when I first started using it. Maybe I’ve just gotten used to it. I highly recommend it to everyone. Pop in to a Sephora and ask for a sample. It feels great!
Happy Birthday Sam!
June 16, 2007
· Filed under Léa, family
This was in my basement the other day. How did it end up on some leaves, you ask? Well, when spotted, it was conveniently on a box bottom, so I covered it (just barely) with an empty cat food can, and brought it outside, where I released it into the wild, with firm instructions to never darken my doorstep again. It’s frickin’ HUGE! Luckily, it didn’t move when I was covering it or photographing it, otherwise anyone reading this would have heard the scream. Wherever you are. I didn’t have the presence of mind to put a quarter next to it for scale. I wouldn’t have wanted to get that close. I *hate* bugs, especially fast ones. They creep me out and I can’t help but think about where they might have been. Like on my face.
These are some pictures of my cousin, Shabtai, his wife, Michal, and their two beautiful sons, Dan and Eitan. They’re here visiting from Israel. Eitan is in Michal’s arms. We were at my cousin Marian’s house in Greenwich celebrating her daughter Chelsea’s graduation from high school. She’s going to St. Andrews next year. La di da! We ate burgers and dogs and lovely potato salad and played with the boys and Léa, who popped by a little later with Sam and Priscille. We had Dan saying “Yummy,” when he was eating cake (We were all saying it, he was aping us. He speaks no English. It was funny.) and “Go away,” to the Willsabeest when Wills was begging for food.
More pictures of the family, including Wills:
June 15, 2007
· Filed under Doctor Who, tv
Quite possibly the scariest episode of Doctor Who I’ve ever seen. Brought back horrid memories of ghost stories told at Leela Kolt’s birthday party all those years ago. The one about the china doll with fangs. This episode had it all, from moving statues, to the lights going out, to being watched, to fangs…everything. Then, as I’m outside at 1 am putting the grill cover on, Gary makes a hissing noise from the darkened bathroom window while standing on the toilet seat. I jumped about three feet. Jesus H. Christ! I hate being scared. I startle very easily. Man alive!
Tomorrow I go to submit the application to Crate and Barrel. I have therapy first, so I’ll go over it with my shrink. Wish me luck!
June 12, 2007
· Filed under tv
I cannot believe the end of The Sopranos. Totally unsatisfying, unless you go with the supposition that references Tony’s conversation with Bobby Bacala about, “When it happens, you don’t even hear it.” So, is Tony dead? Is that it for Big T? I’m slightly distraught. The past two seasons have been, well, not very meaty. Kind of whiny. David Chase said that the show is about family (with a little “F”) first, and “this thing of ours” second. I’ve been a faithful follower, watched every stinking episode, usually on Sunday night (it was the only thing for which I had HBO), I ditched out of family obligations early, dumped off of phone calls midstream, anything to get my weekly fix. Maybe I need to go back to the beginning, watch the series over again, see if I can see where it went wrong. I’m at a loss.
June 11, 2007
· Filed under Doctor Who, G, Hello Kitty, cats, family, tv, work
I really did. I woke up at 5:30, woke up again at 6:07, cursed, and flew into my clothes (no time for a shower if I don’t want another fucking tardy on my record), and rocketed down Route 9 to be at work by 6:45. I pull into the empty parking lot at 6:43 am. I curse. I begin to freak out. I call the company voicemail to see if there are any messages on there about changing the training schedule. There aren’t. JA pulls in in her Lincoln (what a cool car!) and looks at me. I get out, and say, “What the fuck is this shit?” We bullshit awhile, pondering the state of things, when ST finally rolls into the parking lot at 7:05. Apparently there was a roadblock or some such bullshit. All I know is that I busted my ass to get here on time and now we’re all late. JA and I wrote our actual arrival times in the time edit book in GG’s office. No way I’m getting called out for that.
So we’re in this training class for the new point of sale system and we’re joking around, but I can’t stay awake. I had so much trouble falling asleep last night, I didn’t get to sleep until after 2:15 am. I actually fell asleep on my feet. JA poked me and said “Lys! Wake up!” Wow. I didn’t know I could do that. At around 2 pm, I told NTP that I was delirious from lack of sleep, and he said, “But you’re smiling! You’re smiling!” Ass.
G did an awesome job of cleaning up the house in preparation for his parents’ visit. The kitty room is cleared out, the attic looks great (no holes for Harry to climb into and under the floorboards). Garrett came over for dinner, so did my mother, and Tony from up the street stopped by before The Sopranos series finale to let me know what the official opinion was of my application. I just need to rewrite it, with no typos, and it’s ready to hand in. Wheee! We’ll be watching The Sopranos tomorrow since we had company this evening. And more Doctor Who, too. I just can’t watch any news shows or talk to anyone before tomorrow. I had to stop my dad from talking about it when he called. I can wait.
June 10, 2007
· Filed under knitting, movies, yarn
I just got back from Lucy Neatby’s class up in Cornwall. Wow, did she get through a lot of stuff! I bought a bunch of her DVDs (I’m hoping that Gary will pay for some of them as part of my birthday yarn spree), some camel yarn, some ArtYarns yarn (Supermerino #204), some bamboo dpns size 3, and something that lost its ball band after winding. It’s grey, and tweedy, and very soft. Baby alpaca, I remember. Everything she covered is on two of the five DVDs that I bought, so I won’t have to try to remember it all. A very cool modified bind off, The Channel Islands cast on, toe chimneys, provisional crochet cast on, and more that I’m totally forgetting. I’m really glad I bought the DVDs. Sock Techniques 1 & 2, Knitting Essentials 1 & 2, and Finesse Your Knitting 1.
We watched Big Fish on DVD. It is a lovely movie, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. Go watch it. Now. I’ll wait.
June 8, 2007
· Filed under family, knitting, yarn
Talk about yummy yarn! Here: 
are two cakes of Fresh Isle Fiber’s Watermelon self-striping yarn that I wrote about two weeks ago. It arrived yesterday. I can’t wait to knit it up into socks! What am I going to do with two whole cakes of the stuff? I don’t know, I just know I needed it. Hoarding is not an attractive trait, I know. Maybe I’ll send it to someone deserving…They sent a little sticker of the Canadian Flag, too. Too cute!
Tomorrow is Lucy Neatby’s Scintillating Socks class at The Cornwall Yarn Shop! I’m so psyched to learn new sock-knitting techniques. I have to turn some of my sock yarn skeins into cakes by tomorrow morning. I should really do that tonight, but I know Gary’s going to call out to me very soon that it’s time for bed.
I cleaned up a bunch downstairs and a little in my office because, well, it needed it, and also my inlaws are coming on Sunday. They’re driving our new/old car up from Florida and are staying over two nights. We’re driving them out to Lawn Guyland on Tuesday (so much for getting my nails done). My mother said she’d join us for dinner Sunday night, this’ll be her first time meeting them. It should be interesting. She’s met his sister, Lynn, and the kids.
I finished the application for Crate and Barrel. I did a really good job on it, is the consensus. All it needs to do is get me an interview; once they meet me, they’ll be hard-pressed not to hire me, I think. I hope. If I prayed, I would, but I don’t, and now’s not the time to start.
June 7, 2007
· Filed under bipolar, meds, work
is what 60 80mg capsules of Geodon will cost from an unnamed pharmacy in Canada. My insurance didn’t cover any of the $441.58, and the fucking PS Card actually made it $459. Unbelievable.
Other than that horrifying bit of news, I had a really good day. I realized that I start to feel really good in the afternoon and on into evening (I always said I was an “afternoon person”). What’s odd is that by then, the Geodon is already halfway out of my system. It has a half-life of seven hours. I was scheduled for elfa® all day. Yippee! I did a few small plans, and helped out a bunch of other customers, when I saw a woman with a guy headed over with a roll of blueprints under his arm. He’s a general contractor and she’s his client. Nice people. I did a plan for her basement, and pantry, and then we talked about her husband’s tool storage needs. “You know, Father’s Day is coming up,” he said. Way to go, Joe. So I planned a space with six 16″ shelf baskets with dividers and liners for his tools. Cake and pie. I got her credit card info, arranged for him to pick up the order tomorrow, and bid her goodbye. He then takes out the roll of blueprints and says, “I’m building a house that I want you to do.” Nearly the entire house’s closets. Oh. My. The blueprints are amazing, the house is amazing. Four car garage with radiant floor heating, a game room, exercise room, sitting room, reading room, two spa tubs, a family room and a living room, the works. I get to design six (!) linen closets, five bedroom closets, two broom closets, a coat closet, and a pantry. He asked how long it would take for me to design it all, a week, couple weeks? I said not nearly that long, I’m in elfa® all day today so I’ll work on it for the rest of the day (”If you get other clients, it’s okay, the house isn’t being built for a couple of months”) and I’m in Thursday, so I can work on it then, too. I sent a communication to GG asking to please be scheduled in elfa® tomorrow so that I can finish the seven plans of fifteen that I didn’t get to today. I finished and emailed eight of the plans to him, apologizing for having to email each plan individually (The program only works that way. Suckass). Over twenty-five hundred dollars so far, and I haven’t even started on the bedroom closets. I’m going to fill them with fascia and décor drawers, dresser shelves and jewelry boxes. It is going to positively rock. I stuck the blueprints in the safe (GG raised her eyebrows at me and said, “In the safe?” Yeah, um, so they’re safe? WTF? A set of blueprints got lost last summer, I’m not having that happen to me), brought the pad with my notes and the space estimates home with me (They didn’t fit in my locker).
Went to Poughkeepsie after work to meet Gary and pick him up from his Linux Users’ Group meeting. Had a bit of a scare when I got to where I thought I was supposed I go and there was no diner there. I got hooted at in the parking lot of the Sunoco where I went to ask directions.
